Joy is a New Pair of Shoes (Mile 26)

I'm already exhausted and I've barely started.  I need to rethink my pace until I get my "trail legs."  So I decide to hike at a much slower pace and less miles until I (hopefully) get stronger and faster.  So far it seems the entire hike has been uphill, or that may just be my out-of-shape perspective.  Having left some of the drier areas behind, I do enjoy a few trees.  I see lots of petrified wood that is really beautiful.  I still have to carry 5 liters of water to make it from one water source to the next.  Hiking later in the season, as I am, is a disadvantage in that the seasonal streams are already running dry.  The temps are about 75 during the day, and cool at night.

A pic doesn't capture the beauty.

Petrified stumps of trees

 I figured that the shoes I had been training in were good for at least the first 100 miles, but even the first day, I could tell they were pretty worn out.  Luckily, I had purchased my second pair to be ready, so when Marv had to fix my GPS that first day, I ended up swapping shoes too.  What a difference!

New Shoes Make Happy Feet

 At Fred Canyon, I run into a couple of young men who hiked the Appalachian Trail last year and are doing the PCT this year.  They rise very early and hike until 12:30 or 1:00.  then they stop for a couple hours, prepare their big meal for the day, take a nap, journal and move on.  I marvel at their relaxed style in camp, but the lightening speed with which their feet meet the trail.  I think they said they were from Ohio.  One had the trail name of Garfield, but his buddy introduced himself as "just Dan."  At this campground I met Claudia, a 39 year-old yoga instructor from Peru, now living in Oklahoma.  We chatted and found we had a similar world view.  We ended up hiking/camping together for the next several days.  Being a much faster hiker than I, we would not hike exactly together all day, but may run into each other at a snack break, or lunch.  We would decide where we wanted to meet for camping, and I'd eventually catch up with her there.